Criminology's Darkest Hour: Biocriminology in Nazi Germany

This article deals with criminology and its effects during Hitler's Third Reich (1933–1945). For comparative purposes, it also examines the nature and effects of criminology in fascist Italy (1922–1943). In both states, criminology became an extension of political power, but only in Nazi Germany did it fully reach its murderous potential, working to justify the genocide of not only Jews and Gypsies but of criminals as well. Key questions include: How did biological ideas shape explanations of crime in Nazi Germany? How did Nazi science define ‘criminals’? What were the consequences of Nazi criminology? And what does the study of scientific criminology under the Nazis reveal about the nature of criminology itself?